Shahidka
Encyclopedia
Shahidka sometimes called "Black Widow", is a term for Islamist Chechen female suicide bomber
s, who made themselves known at the Moscow theater hostage crisis
of October 2002. The commander Shamil Basayev
had referred to the shahidkas as a part of force of his suicide bombers called the Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs.
The term of "Black Widows" probably originates from the fact that many of these women are widow
s of men killed by the Russia
n forces in Chechnya
(the toxic connotation of black widow spider
is intended). In 2003, the Russian journalist
Yulia Yuzik coined the phrase "Brides of Allah" (Невесты Аллаха) when she described the process by which Chechen women were recruited by Basayev and his associates ; the phrase was also used again after the Beslan attack
, as the title of an installment of the Russian NTV programme Top Secret (Совершенно секретно).
Julia Jusik many of the women have been sold by their parents to be used as shahidkas, others have been kidnapped or tricked. Another group come from wahhabist
families and are pressured to become shahidkas by their family. Many have been prepared to the suicide
by way of narcotic
s and rape
s. Several have been pregnant at the time. Mainly they are given no training at all in preparation for the suicides as no weapon skill is needed to strap on the explosives. Many don't even blow themselves up, but are blown up by remote control.
Female suicide bomber
Though the majority of suicide bombers have been male, female suicide bombers have carried out a number of attacks.-History:Female suicide bombers have been employed in several conflicts, by a variety of organizations, against both military and civilian targets.*In Lebanon on April 9, 1985, Sana'a...
s, who made themselves known at the Moscow theater hostage crisis
Moscow theater hostage crisis
The Moscow theater hostage crisis, also known as the 2002 Nord-Ost siege, was the seizure of the crowded Dubrovka Theater on 23 October 2002 by some 40 to 50 armed Chechens who claimed allegiance to the Islamist militant separatist movement in Chechnya. They took 850 hostages and demanded the...
of October 2002. The commander Shamil Basayev
Shamil Basayev
Shamil Salmanovich Basayev was a Chechen militant Islamist and a leader of the Chechen rebel movement.Starting as a field commander in the Transcaucasus, Basayev led guerrilla campaigns against the Russian troops for years, as well as launching mass-hostage takings of civilians, with his goal...
had referred to the shahidkas as a part of force of his suicide bombers called the Riyad-us Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs.
The term of "Black Widows" probably originates from the fact that many of these women are widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
s of men killed by the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n forces in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
(the toxic connotation of black widow spider
Black widow spider
Latrodectus mactans, the Southern black widow, is a highly venomous species of spider in the genus Latrodectus. They are well known for the distinctive black and red coloring of the female of the species and for the fact that she will occasionally eat her mate after reproduction. The species is...
is intended). In 2003, the Russian journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
Yulia Yuzik coined the phrase "Brides of Allah" (Невесты Аллаха) when she described the process by which Chechen women were recruited by Basayev and his associates ; the phrase was also used again after the Beslan attack
Beslan school hostage crisis
The Beslan school hostage crisis of early September 2004 was a three-day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 380...
, as the title of an installment of the Russian NTV programme Top Secret (Совершенно секретно).
Background
The ranks of the Shahidkas are filled mainly with 15- to 19-year-old women. According to journalistJournalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
Julia Jusik many of the women have been sold by their parents to be used as shahidkas, others have been kidnapped or tricked. Another group come from wahhabist
Wahhabism
Wahhabism is a religious movement or a branch of Islam. It was developed by an 18th century Muslim theologian from Najd, Saudi Arabia. Ibn Abdul Al-Wahhab advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations...
families and are pressured to become shahidkas by their family. Many have been prepared to the suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by way of narcotic
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
s and rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
s. Several have been pregnant at the time. Mainly they are given no training at all in preparation for the suicides as no weapon skill is needed to strap on the explosives. Many don't even blow themselves up, but are blown up by remote control.
Notable examples
- Khava Barayeva is renowned as the first known 'Black Widow' after blowing herself up at a Russian ArmyRussian Ground ForcesThe Russian Ground Forces are the land forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. The formation of these forces posed economic challenges after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and required reforms to professionalize the force...
base in ChechnyaChechnyaThe Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
in June 2000.
- Medna Bayrokova, a resident of GroznyGroznyGrozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
says she remembers the day a middle aged woman came to her front door asking to speak to her 26-year old daughter. Medna Bayrokova let the woman in. Her daughter, Zareta Bayrokova then spent an hour in her bedroom with the woman, before leaving the house, ostensibly to walk the woman to the bus stop. One hour later her mother was visited by several men in camouflage uniforms who said that they had taken her daughter away as she had agreed to marry one of their members. Less than a month later Medna and her husband saw their daughter again, on the TV news during the Moscow Theater Siege. Zareta's unmistakable dark eyes were visible above the NiqabNiqabA niqab is a cloth which covers the face, worn by some Muslim women as a part of sartorial hijāb...
worn by one of the female terrorists. Her hands were clasped firmly below a belt of explosives.
- In May 2003, Shakhida Baimuratova, a Black Widow suicide bomber killed 14 people and wounded 150 in an assassination attempt on the Chechen president Akhmad KadyrovAkhmad KadyrovHajji Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov , also spelled Akhmat, was the Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War...
at a crowded festival in Ilashkan-Yurt. A second woman bomber was also present but her explosives failed to detonate.
- On 5 June 2003 a woman wearing a white coat and an explosive belt threw herself under a bus carrying members of the Russian military. 17 soldiers were killed in the blast and 15 were severely injured.
- On 6 July 2003, two suicide bombers killed 16 people at a rock concert at Tushino Airfield in MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. The two women had been acting suspiciously at the entrance to the festival and then tried to enter, but had been denied entry by the security guards. One of the women detonated her bomb immediately, the other one ten minutes later as evacuees were filing past. Police found a third bomb that was defused without causing harm.
- In December 2003, a male and female suicide bomber killed 46 people and injured 100 others by detonating explosives on a packed commuter train, which had just left Yessentuki in Southern Russia. The woman is believed to have carried explosives in a bag, whereas the man had grenadeGrenadeA grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s strapped to his leg.
- On 9 December 2003 a bomb exploded outside the "National" hotel in Moscow just a few hundred metres from the Moscow KremlinMoscow KremlinThe Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
. It is thought that the target was the State DumaState DumaThe State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
building and that the bomb had detonated prematurely. Six people died and 13 were injured in the blast. The suicide bomber was later identified as Khadishat Mangeriyeva.
- On 6 February 2004, Georgi Trofimov, a Russian bomb disposalBomb disposalBomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the following fields:*Military:...
officer, was killed as he tried to defuse a device at a Moscow cafe. The failed bomber, ethnic IngushIngush peopleThe Ingush are a native ethnic group of the North Caucasus, mostly inhabiting the Russian republic of Ingushetia. They refer to themselves as Ghalghai . The Ingush are predominantly Sunni Muslims and speak the Ingush language...
Zarema MuzhakhoyevaZarema MuzhakhoyevaZarema Muzhakhoyeva is an Ingush woman and would-be shahidka who surrendered to Moscow police on July 9, 2003, instead of blowing herself up...
, was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment for terrorism in April 2004. In 2005, she participated in the trial of the Beslan hostage crisis terrorist Nur-Pashi KulayevNur-Pashi KulayevNur-Pashi Kulayev , a native of Engenoi, Chechnya, is thought to be the sole survivor of the 32 hostage-takers in the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis, although Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev denied the claim, stating that one other escaped....
as a witness for the prosecution, but she withdrew all her statements about Kulayev that she made in pre-trial depositions and said she didn't know he was a militant.
- Two Russian passenger aircraft disasters in 2004 are believed to have been the work of the Black Widows. The smaller of the planes, a TU-134 which crashed near TulaTula, RussiaTula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...
had been carrying a Chechen woman called Amnat Nagayeva who had bought her ticket just an hour before the flight took off. The larger plane exploded near the city of RostovRostovRostov is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:...
killing 46 people. Among the wreckage, investigators found traces of hexogen, a powerful explosive. Another Chechen woman, Satsita Djerbikhanova was also a last-minute passenger on this flight.
- On 1 September 2004, two Chechen women, Roza Nagayeva and Mairam Taburova, were involved in the attack on a Russian, North-OssetianNorth Ossetia-AlaniaThe Republic of North Ossetia–Alania is a federal subject of Russia . Its population according to the 2010 Census was 712,877.-Name:...
school (the Beslan school hostage crisisBeslan school hostage crisisThe Beslan school hostage crisis of early September 2004 was a three-day hostage-taking of over 1,100 people which ended in the deaths of over 380...
). The attack which killed 334 civilians, including 186 children, was masterminded by Shamil Basayev. According to some reports the Chechen women complained bitterly when they found out the target were children, whereafter they were blown up by remote.
- On 29 March 2010, 37 people were killed when two suicide bombers detonated explosives on the Moscow subway. The attacks were linked to shahidkas by the Russian Government, although an investigation has yet to be undertaken.
- On Monday, January 24, 2011, 35 were killed and 180 wounded in Domodedovo, Russia's busiest airport. Although the identity of those responsible for carrying out the attacks has not been officially confirmed, initial reports suggest at least one Black Widow was involved, likely accompanied by a man.